The Ultimate Sacrifice
by Apple3.14
Summary: While fighting Zabuza, things didn't go as planned causing Naruto to make the ultimate sacrifice for his team. What kind of future will this sacrifice bring and how will Naruto adapt? No pairings decided. Please be kind in reviews. Not Yaoi.


Naruto wanted to explode in anger. His very first mission above d ranking, and he was fucking it all up. It went fine until the huge stray sword of Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, just about cut their heads clean off. While the battle progressed Zabuza got the upper hand on their team leader Kakashi, and trapped him inside a water bubble where he would suffocate to death. On top of that he was wasting his breath yelling at them (them being his team and the client they were trying to protect) to run away from the missing ninja, who was aptly named for his sadistic nature.

The situation was not going in their favor, and they would pay the price for it.

But little did people know, was that Naruto was indeed intelligent. He just liked to have a few cards up his sleeve. He didn't have time to hide his tricks though. If he didn't do something they would all die here and he would not be able to fulfill his dream of surpassing the previous Kages in power.

Naruto pulled his backpack off of his back and placed it in front of him. Quickly, he pulled out a giant shurriken once used by his traitorous sensei, Mizuki, who was now rightfully in jail.

Naruto tossed the oversized blade to Sasuke. The black haired Uchiha was able to catch the object, despite being weak-kneed. The two shared a look, before nodding at each other. The two being such intense rivals, always knew what the other was thinking just by looking at them.

Naruto pulled himself up off the ground, and put his hands into a familiar seal, one that had almost been submitted to muscle memory for him.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted the title, calling forth a dozen clones of himself. They all charged forward, heading straight for the Mizu Clone that was created by Zabuza earlier. The Mizu Clone smirked and swung the huge blade in his hands with ease, taking out every single Shadow Clone. Threw the smoke that the destruction caused, the large shurriken that was before held by Sasuke, was now heading straight for the missing ninja Zabuza, and passing right by his clone. Utilizing his free hand, Zabuza caught the aforementioned object and smirked behind his makeshift mask of bandages.

In the shadow of the first, another shurriken flew at Zabuza. Being cornered, the only thing he could do was jump over the speeding blade. "You'll never catch me with those lame tricks Konoha punks!" Zabuza yelled at the scared genin.

But that was when the unexpected happened. The shurriken that Zabuza had just dodged turned into Naruto mid-flight over the lake. Naruto tossed a kunai at Zabuza, going straight for the arm keeping Kakashi imprisoned.

Luckily for Zabuza, his life as a ninja taught him to expect the unexpected, and he was ready for such a tactic. The Mizu Clone that he had made earlier jumped in the way of the kunai, and was dispelled as it was pierced by the kunai which rendered the kunai helpless.

Naruto, still suspended in the air, stared at his enemy. "Damn. I was expecting that." He swore under his breath, before plunging into the depths of the water. His head resurfaced a moment later. He was unable to get out of the water however, considering Zabuza was right there on the shore.

He looked over to his teammates, who were completely shocked. That was their last hope in freeing their leader and beating Zabuza, and it was crushed like a fly with no wings. Naruto's continuous cursing didn't help him keep calm. He had no idea what to do. He was drawing up blanks. His first priority would be to protect his team, but he had no idea how without risking his own life, and Kami knew what good that would do.

"Fine then." Zabuza spoke calmly. "Since it seems like your not going to give up the client, I'll just have to kill all of you, starting with him!" Zabuza stabbed his sword through the ball of water, catching his target inside. Kakashi yelled when the sword made contact. It pierced his skin, and sent him flying back to a tree with a cracking sound. He fell to the ground, lifeless.

Team seven stared in horror. A loss for words. Naruto most of all. Now they really didn't have any hope in defeating Zabuza. Kakashi was the only one among them strong enough to even come close, and he was dead.

Naruto had never felt this helpless in his life. Not even when he was glared down by practically all of the people in Konoha.

…He was going to die here...

A distant but familiar scream woke him from his musings. He looked over to his team. The scream came from Sakura. Zabuza was rushing toward them, sword poised to strike. He really intended to kill them. With Sasuke frozen to the ground in fear, he didn't have anyone to stop him.

"No, there is one who can." Naruto told himself. "I can't just give up and watch them die. I have to save them!" Words became actions, and Naruto sprung back into the fight to help.

Sakura screamed as she watched Zabuza rush toward them. She had watched her sensei die at his hands, and now it was her fate next. She just couldn't believe this was it. No chance to tell Sasuke how she really felt. No growing up and getting married, or having kids. Her whole life was ruined at that very moment.

She closed her eyes not wanting to look. She heard the distinctive sound of metal cutting through flesh, and one thought crossed her mind, 'Sasuke'.

But a surprised voice said a different name.

"Naruto."

Sakura opened her eyes, and instantly wished she hadn't. Right in front of her was the most gruesome sigh she had seen in her whole life, let alone it being someone she considered a friend.

Naruto was standing in front of both of them. Not all of Naruto though. Part of him was missing. His arm, which was used to save Sakura, was now five meters away, courtesy of Zabuza's strike. Blood dropped from Naruto's missing limb

Sakura brought her hands up to her mouth to keep herself from screaming again. "N…n…Naru…to. N…no…oh god." She was able to mutter. She couldn't believe what he did. To sacrifice himself like that. When Naruto said he would protect his precious people, he really wasn't joking.

The only thing Naruto could really do at this point was smirk and come up with a totally Naruto-ish line. "You okay, scardy cat?" He addressed to the Uchiha. Tears welled up in Sasuke's eyes, seeing his teammate and what he considered to be his best friend in such a state.

His anger burned inside him, and his body bent and his hands tightened. Chakra began to form all over his body. His eyes glared holes in the missing ninja that was now standing in his previous spot, looking like the sadistic Demon he really was.

"This isn't the Sasuke I know." Naruto said, now looking like he was on the brink of death considering how much blood he lost. "He wasn't one to get scared over one little enemy. Now, show Zabuza the real Sasuke Uchiha. Show him what it means to be an Uchiha!" Naruto said with his last breath as he fell to the ground. Just before he hit it however, Sakura caught him and laid his head in her lap. Tears fell freely from her face.

"Oh, Naruto!" She sobbed. Tazuna, the client, watched over the scene solemnly. He really underestimated this kid. To make the ultimate sacrifice for his teammates, the kid had guts. He would probably never be able to be a ninja again with that arm.

"Damn it Naruto." Sasuke seethed. "Don't you think I know that already?" Sasuke looked up at Zabuza, only this time his eyes had changed. They were red, with one tomoe mark spinning around his black pupil. "I will show him!"

The smile that graced Naruto's face after Sasuke's speech did not go unnoticed by Sakura.

Sasuke charged forward, attempting to overrun the missing ninja. He was much faster now that he was able to predict the swings. He dodged left, right and down, trying to avoid jumping in the air because that was the worst spot for a ninja to be. You had no way of maneuvering while suspended in the air. It seemed for a while Sasuke was getting the upper hand, which was ridiculous. Zabuza's only problem was that he had underestimated Sasuke, even when he activated the sharingan. Once in a while Zabuza would throw out a water jutsu, which would be countered by Sasuke's fire jutsu.

"Alright, this is getting lame!" Zabuza yelled. "Time to finish it." He pulled out a few more tricks from his book, and used some of his more advanced styles of combat, now overwhelming Sasuke and making him retreat.

Once he had cornered Sasuke, he grinned. Sasuke was on the ground, Zabuza standing right above him.

Sakura screamed seeing Zabuza raise his blade. "Sasuke run!" She could imagine losing her whole team on their first real mission.

The sound of a thousand chirping birds was heard through the clearing. A dangerous looking ball of lightning was poking out of Zabuza's chest, where his heart should be. The ball of lightning disappeared and the hand holding it pulled out of Zabuza's chest. Zabuza's body fell, lifeless, and showed their sensei Kakashi, holding his side where the wound from Zabuza's sword was located.

Kakashi held up a hand to Sasuke. Sasuke took it and Kakashi helped him up. They both ran over to where Sakura was taking care of Naruto. Kakashi picked him up and placed him on his back to carry him. "We need to get Naruto medical attention immediately. We are heading back to Konoha. Tazuna, another team will take care of this mission in place of us."

Tazuna could only agree, seeing the state the boy was in.

"What about you sensei, you're hurt to." Sakura pointed out. Kakashi shook his head.

"No time. Don't worry about me. Naruto is our top priority. Let's go." He answered running ahead of them.

As they left the clearing, a figure clad in hunter ninja clothing walked up to Zabuza's body. The feminine like figure bent down to Zabuza, and placed a hand on his vitals. The figure stood back up and glared at the retreating ninja's, specifically the grey haired one.

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Well, what do you all think? I know it's not too good at this moment, but I am going to do my best to make it one of the best.

Please not too much flaming. I'll accept constructive criticism, but no outright ridicule.

The pairing is undecided for now, but I will place a pole up in the near future for one.

Thank you all for taking the time to read.


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